Saturday, September 19, 2015

California -
SANTA ANA >> A U.S. District Court
judge this week dismissed a federal indictment by which the government
sought to seize control of the Mongols Motorcycle Club's iconic logo.
Federal
Judge David O. Carter granted a defense motion for dismissal Wednesday
filed on behalf of Mongols by attorneys Joe Yanny and Elliot Min of
the Los Angeles-based law firm Yanny and Smith, court documents show.
detail of a logo on one of the motorcycles seized by Sheriff's
deputies and ATF agents during a sweep that resulted in numerous
arrests involving the Mongols motorcycle gang. (Staff Photo by Keith
Durflinger)
Federal prosecutors obtained the indictment in February of 2013, alleging the Mongols logo, often scene on the patches on the distinctive leather vests worn by club members, was subject to government forfeiture under the RICO Act.

Following
Wednesday's ruling in federal court in Santa Ana, "Their whole basis
for attempting to forfeit the collective membership mark is dead meat,"
Yanny said.
Yanny commended the judge in the case, adding he
could not recall another instance of a federal indictment being
dismissed by a judge.

"It took a lot of guts for this judge to
do what he did. He had to go against the grain," he said. "He was a
courageous enough man to do the right thing. It restores my faith in
the system."

members rally Saturday, March 29, 2013 at The House Lounge in
Maywood in support of the Mongols who are facing a federal trial
seeking to take away their trademark patch. (Photo by Sarah
Reingewirtz/Pasadena Star-News)
Prosecutors asserted the
Mongols' logo was subject to forfeiture because the club is a criminal
organization which uses the logo, "to identify its members and
facilitate the coordination of criminal activity," according to
Carter's order.

Federal prosectors continued weighing their options Thursday.
"We are reviewing the ruling and will consider pursuing an appeal," U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said.
Yanny
said Carter's ruling leaves the Mongols on solid legal footing to
combat any further litigation, and he's confident any appeal will be
unsuccessful.
In his 23-page ruling, Carter found the government
had failed to show the required elements for prosecution under the
RICO statute.
RICO prosecutions require that a specific person
or entity be charged with crimes that are committed through a separate
criminal enterprise. But Carter found the federal government's
assertion the Mongols Nation is an entity that conducts criminal
activity through a separate enterprise, the Mongols gang, amounted to
"a distinction without a difference."

"There is
simply no substance to the Mongols Gang enterprise independent of
Mongol Nation, an association of its leadership and official
membership," Carter wrote.
Having determined the indictment was insufficient, Carter declined to rule on the other principal arguments made by the Mongols.
The
Mongols had also argued their logo was constitutionally protected as a
collective membership mark, and that the organization, rather than
individual people, is not capable of committing "intent crimes," such
ass murder or assault, Yanny said.

"I'm very happy about the result," Yanny said.
But the judge declined to order sanctions against the prosecution, which
Mongols attorney's sought due to allegations of prosecutorial
misconduct.
"While the indictment is legally deficient for the reasons explained
above, this does not demonstrate that the action is vexatious, meaning
that the Government acted with 'ill intent,'" Carter wrote.
The previous judge assigned to the case, Judge Otis Wright II, recused
himself from the case in May, after Mongols attorneys filed a motion
seeking a new judge, alleging Wright had demonstrated bias against the
Mongols.
The indictment, filed in February of 2013, came on the heels of another
federal case in which 79 Mongols members pleaded guilty to a variety of
criminal charges following a six-state operation targeting the Mongols
known as "Operation Black Rain."